One Year
by EllaBella18
Summary: "How exactly are we going to get not so messed up?" "We'll take it one day at a time Q."Rated for some swearing.
1. Chapter 1

I started this oneshot before Hold Onto Sixteen aired, so it's not exactly cannon with how everything goes down. I hope you guys like this.

I also have a tumblr if you're interested, the link is on my profile. Anyway, enough rambling. I hope you enjoy and remember, reviews are love!

* * *

><p>"<em>I need to tell you something, but you need to promise to keep it a secret." <em>

_She turned her head to look at him. "I promise," she replied nodding her head slightly, snuggling deeper into his embrace. He made her feel, safe and warm. He just made her feel, and she's beginning to think that that is a step in the right direction._

"_I slept with Shelby."_

_She sits up at his words, his arms falling to rest on her thighs, she doesn't move to shrug him away, she's simply shocked. "What are you talking about?" She whispers sharply, crossing her arms across her chest. _

"_I slept with her, and then right after she just kicked me out. She used me and then decided it was better to be moral or some other kind of bullshit." _

_She feels her face soften a bit at his words and she gently places her hand against his cheek. "You're pretty messed up too Puckerman," she whispers, moving to lay back down. _

_She hears him sigh as he moves up behind her, spooning against her once again. "I know." _

"_Don't listen to her Puck, you're going to do amazing things one day too." _

"_I'm pretty sure that you and Berry are the only ones who have ever said something like that to me."_

"_Yeah well sometimes, as much as it pains me to admit this, sometimes Rachel is right." They both laugh quietly for a few minutes and she feels him bury his nose into her short blond hair. "Puck?" _

"_Hmm?"_

"_How exactly are we going to get not so messed up?" _

"_We'll take it one day at a time Q." _

* * *

><p>She's furious sitting in the choir room listening to Mr. Schue and her talk about how they're closer together now blah blah blah. She feels murderous and it takes everything in her to not burst the whole thing out in the middle of the choir room. She can't do that to Puck, not after everything he's already been through in his life.<p>

And she knows that if she brings this to the public, Beth will end up in the system. She realized now that the chances that children's aid will just hand over Beth to two unemployed teen parents is slim to none. And the last thing she wants is for her beautiful baby girl, her perfect thing, to end up in the system. So she reigns in her bitchiness and sits through Santana belting out Constant Craving. She sits through Glee practice when the Troubletones leave shortly after, and she even makes small talk with Tina and Mike for a few minutes after practice before she slips out of the choir room and storms down the hallway on a mission.

She peeks her head into Shelby's classroom and seeing the woman alone at her desk she walks inside and slams the door shut, drawing the woman's attention to her.

"What can I do for you Quinn?" She asks noticing the look of fury clearly written across Quinn's face.

"You are unbelievable!" Quinn exclaimed placing her hand on her hips.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Shelby replied crossing her arms across her chest and raising an eyebrow at the blonde.

"You lecture me about what it means to be a parent, how you have to be selfless, and make all the right decisions that you can, and then you can and sleep with Puck?"

"How did you-"

"I'm talking. Not only is it illegal for a student to sleep with a teacher in Ohio, its wrong. You're messing with his head, and he's doing everything he thinks he needs to do so you'll let him keep Beth in his life. And then casting him aside like some unwanted dirty shirt afterwards is just terrible. You're the grown-up, you should know better!"

Shelby sighed and looked Quinn in the eyes. "I-"

"I honestly don't want to hear it. But you should stop jerking Puck around. You need to stop jerking Puck around. He's just as messed up about all of this as I am and its not fair to him. I know trying to get Beth back was stupid and wrong, but he's done nothing but love her, so don't take her away from him for this."

"How do you know this?"

"That's not important. What's really important is what I'm about to say to you. I've been sitting on this all weekend. And I'm furious about how you treated Puck, but what's worse is you're the woman we picked to raise our daughter. And Friday night I was going to march right in here this morning and report you to Principal Figgins. But then I realized who's really suffering in all of this? Beth would. She's the one who would end up in the system. And as furious and outraged as I am right now, I can't sent that beautiful, perfect little girl into a world full of foster care. So get your shit together. If not for yourself, then for my daughter."

Shelby stood staring shocked at Quinn for a few seconds before Quinn spun on her heel and storming out of the classroom.

* * *

><p>The sun is just beginning to set when he shows up at her door a week later just after dinner. They'd gotten better at just talking and being around each other at school so she's not really surprised that its starting to extend out of school too.<p>

"Put on a coat," Puck told her stepping into the front hallway.

"Why?" She demanded putting one hand on her hip, tucking a piece of blonde hair behind her ears.

"Just put on your coat," he replied raising an eyebrow at her. She sighed and picked up the red pea coat from it's hook from the door.

"Mom! Apparently I'm going out with Puck for a bit! I'll call you if I'm late!" She called out in the direction that Puck knew to be their kitchen.

"Okay Quinnie, have fun and be careful!" her mom called back.

They make their way outside into the cold December night and Quinn is grateful that his car is already warmed up.

"No seriously, what are we doing?" Quinn asked once they were on the road, the classic rock station Puck usually listened to playing an old version of Jingle Bell Rock.

"I'm taking you around town to see the Christmas lights," Puck shrugged turning left off of her street towards the other side of town where he knew there was a light display she'd just love.

"I love Christmas lights," Quinn smiled leaning back into her seat.

"I know," Puck smiled shooting her a glance out of the corner of his eye.

"How did you-"

"When you were first living with me when you were pregnant with Beth, every time we'd drive through town at night, and you'd see all the lights shining, your face would break into this huge smile, and your eyes would light up and it was the happiest I'd ever seen you."

"You remember that?"

"Of course. Like I said, it was the happiest I've ever seen you."

She feels a blush creep up onto her face and she ducks her head slightly. She feels him slip his hand on top of her's and they fall into a comfortable silence, mostly because she's completely absorbed by the lights shining in the night.

An hour and a half later, they're seated at the Lima Bean having hot chocolate, and it's honestly the best time she's had in a long time. She feels safe and warm and she's beginning to realize she likes those feelings instead of feeling numb or angry all of the time.

"I started seeing a therapist yesterday," Quinn tells him, drawing his attention away from the snowflakes falling to the ground outside.

"How did that go for you?"

"Well she says I'm not totally messed up so that's a good sign I guess."

"You're not messed up Q. What you've been through over the past three years is a lot."

"You've been through a lot too Puck. Now we just have to start getting through it. I get that now. I think therapy is going to be good for me."

"I think so too. You were bat-shit crazy there for a while." They both laugh at this and Quinn shakes her head.

"I was, I get that now."

"Admitting it is the first step to recovery."

"You're an ass."

"Eh, I'm okay with that."

Quinn laughed and shook her head. "You're also impossible."

* * *

><p>First day back from winter break, they're all in the choir room, she's sitting next to Puck and they've got a deathly competitive game of hangman going on when Santana, Mercedes, and Brittany come back with their tails between their legs. She only half listens as they explain that leaving New Directions for their own gain was wrong, she's really not surprised that they're back after they kicked their asses at sectionals. She feels a small grin break out on her face at the memory. She may be working through her issues, but she was still Quinn Fabray, and she was fiercely competitive. She likes to win. End of story.<p>

Puck leans over and pulls his phone out of his backpack by his feet. She sees him quickly typing out a text out of the corner of her eye and she starts doodling little swirly vines in her notebook when she feels her phone vibrate in her lap.

"_I know that smirk. Its usually the one you wear when you're up to no good."_

She rolls her eyes before quickly sending him a response.

"_I'm just finding this whole situation kind of funny." _

"_You're an evil, evil woman Fabray." _

"_Oh you have no idea Puckerman," _she texted as the former Troubletones take seats around various empty chairs in the choir room. Mr. Schue stands up to write on the whiteboard and as soon as she notices the weeks theme (Rap? Seriously? She's like 98% sure he's just looking for another reason to try and rap for them) she's back to doodling in her notebook before Puck grabs his phone again and shoots her another text.

"_Wanna come over tonight? Leah's been bitching that she hasn't seen you in like freaking ages or some other kind of twelve year old bullshit." _

"_I can't tonight, therapy remember? What about tomorrow?" _

"_Basketball practice."_

"_I'll come over Saturday then. Your mom is working afternoons right? Someone needs to make sure you and Leah eat something other than peanut butter cups all day long." _

"_Hey, those things are fucking delicious. And that's cool, I'm pretty sure Leah wants your input on her nails or some shit like that. I don't know I tuned her out." _

"_Puck!" _ she starts to write before she's interrupted by Mr. Schue breaking out into a cleaned up version of Ghetto Superstar and everyone is up and dancing around. She's still amused that Santana and Mercedes joined New Directions again (let's be honest here, Brittany only left to be with Santana), but at the same time it just feels really...nice for all of them to be in the choir room again.

They're released shortly after the impromptu rap session and he waits for her as she gathers up her books to head home before heading back out to see her therapist.

"So someone told Shelby you were seeing a therapist." Puck started as they made their way out of the school.

"She ran into me as I was coming out of my therapist's office. I kind of had to tell her," Quinn explained squinting slightly as they made their way into the sunny parking lot.

"She wants you to go by and maybe start seeing Beth again."

Quinn stopped and turned to face him. She felt her heart almost stop at the thought of seeing her baby girl again.

"She wants us to come over Sunday afternoon. To talk."

A small smile broke out onto her face. She felt hopeful for the first time in a long time. It had killed her to walk away from her baby girl, but at the time she wasn't at her best, and her daughter deserved nothing but the best.

* * *

><p>She's a trembling nervous wreck when Puck picks her up from church Sunday morning. She tugs nervously at her dress until Puck grabs her hand and squeezes it softly within his own.<p>

"It's going to be okay Q."

"You can't promise that for sure, she can decide she doesn't want me to see her every again." Quinn started, tears starting to form in her eyes at the thought. Puck pulled up in front of the condo Shelby lived in and he looped his arm around her shoulders as they walked inside. She was thankful that he realized she just needed someone close to her right now. Her baby was so close, but still so far.

Shelby opens the door and welcomes them inside.

"She should be up from her nap very soon," Shelby explained taking a seat in a chair across from them on her couch. "Quinn, I want to apologize for the way I've acted since coming back here. I saw that you were struggling, hell I understand your pain about all of this, but I really didn't do anything to help you. I told you you needed to get your act together, but I did nothing to help you do so. And I'm so sorry for that. I should of done more to help you. I should of done more to help the both of you."

"Shelby-" Quinn started.

"No, it's okay. I should of handled everything that went down better. I'm the adult. With that said, I've been watching you. And Quinn, you seem so much better. I want Beth to know the two of you, its what I've always wanted."

"I'm sorry for before, I was out of my mind, and really not aware about what I was doing. I'm so sorry." Quinn apologized.

"I understand. And again, I'm sorry I didn't do more to help either of you. Now, like I said, I want you both to be in her life. I want her to grow up knowing that her birth parents loved her and wanted her to have the best possible life. I want her to know you."

"That would be wonderful," Quinn whispered.

"There's got to be some ground rules though. Maybe a lot of this mess could of been avoided if we'd done this in the start, but there has to be some rules now."

"That's totally fair," Puck added.

"One, I don't want her growing up confused. So I am her mom. She'll know you as her birth parents, but I don't want her growing up confused because she has two mommies and a daddy. You'll be Puck and Quinn, or Noah if you prefer Puck."

The two nodded their heads and Shelby continued on. "Two, for right now, when you visit, I'm here. We need to start over so I'll be home with you guys until I feel comfortable with leaving you alone with her. I'll make myself scarce but for the first little while, I want to be around. I actually think that's it, deal?" Shelby asked the two teens seated across from her.

"Deal," Quinn replied overjoyed with the idea of spending time with her baby again. They heard Beth start to cry over the baby monitor and Shelby excused herself to go get her quickly.

"You okay Q?" Puck asked pulling her into a side hug.

"I am. I'm so relieved she's giving me a second chance with her. I don't think I could of gone through life wondering if she was okay."

"Thankfully we'll never have to find out what that's like," Puck replied as Shelby came out smiling with Beth in her arms.

"Look who came to see you Bethie!" Shelby exclaimed as she placed her into Quinn's lap. "I'm gonna go fix her milk, sit with her for a bit Quinn."

Beth, still sleepy from her nap, snuggled up against Quinn's chest and she felt like her heart just stopped. She felt and fit so perfectly in her arms. Quinn bent her head to plant a soft kiss on the top of the toddler's head and she stopped to smell the sweet baby smell. She was everything Quinn remembered, sweet, beautiful, and perfect. She was perfect.

* * *

><p>"What the fuck Fabray? It's not even nine in the morning yet. It's Saturday!" Puck whined as Quinn strolled into his bedroom and flung open his curtains, letting in the early morning sun.<p>

"You need to get up."

"Why the hell do I need to get up?" Puck asked clearly annoyed as he sat up in bed to look at Quinn as she opened his closet door and started going through his shirts.

"Rachel is starting to freak out because Regionals is next week, so she's instated mandatory Saturday practices from now until we win Nationals. And I've been delegated the ever so happy task of getting you out of bed before you're ready to even be out of bed." Quinn explained tossing a black t-shirt onto his bed along with a pair of jeans.

"Why the fuck did Berry send you over here to get me for?" Puck asked laying back down in his bed. "And where the hell is this practice going to take place?"

"Because apparently I'm the only one who can, and I quote, 'get you to listen to reason'. And Rachel's house."

"Mr. Schue going to be there?"

"Nope, she mysteriously couldn't get a hold of him."

"Fuck that, we're not going," Puck replied pulling her down onto his bed as she went to walk out so he could get dressed.

"Puck! We have to go! You know what Rachel will be like if we don't show up!"

"Text her, tell her we're stuck watching the brat all day because my mom is at work and you don't trust me alone with her or some shit like that. Works every time."

"Puck!" She scolded laughing.

"Fine then, I'll text her then babe. Pass me my phone."

"Puck, we have to go. Rachel promised it wouldn't take all day."

"Q," Puck whined trying to give her the puppy dog eyes.

"If those eyes don't work when our daughter is trying to get more ice cream out of me, its sure as hell not going to work on me when you're trying to get out of going to Glee practice either. Get your ass up, get your ass dressed, and your ass better be downstairs in twenty minutes or I'm sending Leah up, and it won't be pretty."

"You wouldn't dare Fabray."

"I think we both know I would Puckerman."

"You're an evil woman."

Quinn shrugged her shoulders and smirked at him. "So I've been told. Now quit stalling. Remember, twenty minutes. Starting now." she teased getting up off of his bed and going down the stairs to talk to his mom and sister for a bit.

Quinn smirked once again to herself as he made his way downstairs with five minutes to spare. "Let's go, I'll buy you breakfast before we head over." Quinn stated making her way to the Puckerman's front door.

"Now you're just kissing ass Fabray."

"Whatever, you're up and dressed before noon on a Saturday, I can buy you breakfast on this first of many Saturday mornings."

"What the hell first? How many of these is there going to be?"

"Do you not listen to me when I talk? Rachel has insisted on a practice every Saturday from now until Nationals."

"Fuck my life."

* * *

><p>She starts getting anxious about acceptance letters mid March. Acceptances are starting to come in for all of them and she's nervous. She already knows she can go to Brown or NYU if she wants to, but those are her backup schools, she wants to go to Yale. And waiting for that letter in the mail was killing her.<p>

Puck is over most days after school and he usually ends up staying for dinner. So its a typical Thursday afternoon as she makes her way into the big house on Dudley road that feels more like a home with just her and her mother than it ever did when her sister and father lived with them. Her mom is still at work so she grabs the mail and tosses it on the counter before tossing her school bag on the floor in the hallway and going to grab the chicken her mom had taken out of the freezer for dinner that night. Puck follows behind her and grabs about five cookies out of the container on the counter, before he heads over to grab a glass of milk.

"Are you eating with us tonight?" she asks him fishing things out of the fridge for a salad to go along with dinner.

"Mmmhmm," he responds absentmindedly flipping through their mail, and snagging any coupons he sees that he wants. She rolls her eyes at him, and she's not even surprised. This is such a typical night for them she doesn't even bat an eye.

She's just getting the chicken into the oven when he calls her attention over to him. "Hey Q, what colleges were you waiting on letters from again?" He asks as she goes over to the sink to wash her hands.

"OSU, UCLA, and of course Yale. But that one you knew." She replied quickly drying her hands and heading over to dig a cutting board out of the drawer.

"Well, you have a letter from Yale here," he states like he's telling her it's raining outside. She lets the cutting board slip from her hands before spinning around to face him.

"Big envelope or small envelope?" She questions rushing across the kitchen to where he's seated at their island.

He waves a big envelope in the air and she sees the Yale logo in the corner and she all but dives at the letter. She restrains herself from diving at it and he gives it to her, chuckling as he watches her rip the envelope open.

"What's it say Q?" He asks wrapping an arm around her waist as he watches her read the typed letter.

"Oh my God," she whispers turning to face him, tears in her eyes and a smile ghosting across her face. "I got in!" she exclaimed.

He sweeps her up into his arms and spins her around the kitchen. "Quinn! That's amazing!" He beams, smiling down at her. There are happy tears escaping from her eyes, and he doesn't even hesitate to wipe one of them away. She feels butterflies fly up in her stomach at his touch. Time seems to speed up and slow down at the same time, and she's never been more aware of the feelings she's been avoiding since they started hanging out again in the first place.

Their faces are inches apart, she can see the want in his eyes, and she's about to stand up on her tip toes to close the distance when her mother's voice rings out through the house.

"Lucy Quinn Fabray! How many times do I have to tell you not to just leave your bag on the floor!" her mother scolds coming into the kitchen, where the two of them were already as wide apart as they could get. She's just standing up from retrieving the falling cutting board when her mother notices the guilty look on her face. Judy narrows her eyes, but makes her way over to the fridge to get a glass of water when she notices the Yale acceptance letter on the counter.

"Quinnie? You got in?" Her mother asked turning to face the younger blonde. Quinn feels a smile break out onto her face again and before she knows it, she's swept up into her mother's arms as the older Fabray woman clutches her daughter. "Oh Quinnie, I'm so proud of you! We're going out to celebrate. You too Noah, no objections, you practically live here, you should be apart of this. Go get your things ready Quinnie! Yale! I can't believe it. I'm so proud of you darling!"

* * *

><p>They're in her kitchen and she's trying to make cupcakes for her church's bake sale tomorrow and Puck is distracting her from everything she's setting out to do. It's later in the afternoon and they had spent the morning with Beth, so he'd just come over afterwards.<p>

He's trying to help, but really he's just distracting her and making her laugh with his impressions of Mr. Schue trying to figure out their set list for Nationals. She goes to squeeze by him to grab some sugar out of the pantry when he gently grabs her waist and bends his head to graze her lips ever so softly. She's stunned still for a moment before she brings her hand to rest on the back of his neck and goes back to kiss him again.

He's smiling when they break apart, and she feels a grin on her face too.

"What was that Puck?" She asks gently, hopping up on the counter to sit. He shrugs his shoulder and brings his hands to rest on her waist.

"I think we should try being together again."

She feels her breath catch in her throat and a bigger grin stretch out across her face. She doesn't answer him, instead she bends her head to kiss him again.

"Okay." She replies against his lips.

"Yeah?" He asks, his eyes shining and hopeful. She feels herself and nods her head.

"Yes. I think we should be together too."

* * *

><p>The Monday after their kiss, she's smiling to herself as she takes her books out of her locker for first and second period. She hasn't had a chance to see him since Saturday night since she had church with her mom in the morning, and in the afternoon, Santana, Rachel, and Brittany had dragged her to every single dress store within a two hour distance to look for prom dresses.<p>

She feels her smile grow as he makes his way down the hall to her and kisses her softly and quickly on the mouth. "Hi," she whispers closing her locked and turning to face him.

"Hi," he grinned back, tucking a piece of her blonde hair behind one of her ears. "So I've been thinking."

"You have have you? That's never a good sign," she grins and they both laugh for a second.

"That's just mean Q. And here I am about to bear my soul to you." She rolls her eyes and he continues on without missing a beat. "Anyway, I was thinking, we should go to prom together. Like our first date or whatever."

She feels a blush creep up onto her face and she ducks her head slightly. She doesn't exactly hate the butterflies flying around in her stomach, or how nervous he still can make her feel. "As our first date? Isn't that a lot of pressure for a first date?"

"Babe, after the past two years, prom is going to be a fucking cake walk."

She chuckles quietly and looks at him. She can see the sincerity written across his face and there's nothing more she wants to do then to go to prom with him. So she nods her head and he grins at her, kissing her, before looping an arm around her shoulders and using his other one to take her books out of her hands.

"I'll pick you up at six," he states as they make their way down the hall, smiling and waving to their, for the most part, very confused friends.

"That sounds great."

"This is probably the most un-badass question I will ever ask you, but what colour are you wearing?"

She laughs quietly at him, "I think its sweet that you want to know. I'm wearing a really light purple dress this year."

He nods his head at her and she leans her head against his shoulder. It felt so...right to be together with Puck like this again. Its never felt like this with anyone else before. Puck has been there with her through so many things in her life, her pregnancy, giving birth, when she'd lost her way for a while. She'd gone absolutely crazy, and he was still there for her. Most people would of left her, but not him. He made her happier then she ever remembered being.

"Are you coming over tonight?" She asks him once they reach her homeroom.

"Why wouldn't I? Ma's on the day shift so she picks up the brat from school, leaving me free to spend all my time over at your house."

Quinn laughs and goes to duck into her classroom, but she feels his hand on her arm and she stops to face him. "I'll see you at lunch Q," he smiles leaning into her and kissing her quickly. He turns and heads down the hallway towards his class, and Quinn feels herself just grinning from ear to ear all morning. She finally felt like things were working out the way they were supposed to.

* * *

><p>They're making out on his bed the night before graduation when she catches sight of his gown hung on the back of his door when it hits her. After this summer she's leaving Lima and he's not. At least not this year. She pulls back from him suddenly and sits up.<p>

"Babe? What's wrong?" He asks sitting up with her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him.

"I'm leaving after the summer," she states staring straight ahead, panic clearly written across her face.

Puck forces her to look at him before he speaks. "I know that babe, You're going to Yale, this is a good thing." He replies. She tucks her head under his chin and absentmindedly plays with his fingers.

"You're not coming with me," she states tears starting to fall down her cheeks against her will.

"No, I'm working for a year and going to the Lima branch of OSU."

"I know that. I just...what are we going to do?"

Puck shrugs and pulls her as close to him as he can. "We do long distance for a year until I can apply to the police program out there. New Haven is only about eight hours away from here babe. You know I'll come see you whenever I can."

Quinn nods her head and snuggles into his embrace. "I'm just scared."

"What are you scared about Q?"

"Of losing you. I just...I just love you, and its taken us so long to get here, I don't want to loose you."

"You won't loose me baby."

"Promise?"

"I promise." He replied bending his head to kiss her softly. "Did you mean it?"

"What?"

"When you said you loved me."

Quinn nods her head at him. "Yes, especially now."

He grins and shakes his head at her, before capturing her in another longer, deeper kiss. "I love you too."

* * *

><p>The endless summer days stretch out before them, and they a lot of time with Beth or the rest of the glee club, and almost all of their time together. She loved the days where they drove aimlessly around Lima, windows all the way down because the air conditioner was broken, music floating out through the stereo. It was simple, low key, and so very them.<p>

She's never been happier in her life, and she knows it's because of him. She doesn't know how she's going to go a full year being so far apart, but she tries to not dwell on it. Her therapist is always telling her to live in the now more, and she's really trying to.

When she fully gives herself to him again its early July and they're down at the lake on a blanket looking up at the stars. The crickets are chirping in the background. This time is everything her first time should of been—there's no lies or deception, its slow, passionate, and tender, and when he whispers "I love you" into her neck after they've finished she feels so happy and full of life. It makes her realize that she's finally really truly, okay.

The rest of the summer flashes by before she has time to blink and before she knows it she's loading her car up for the trip out to New Haven the next morning. They'd had a going away party for everyone leaving with the original Glee Club earlier, and they've all said their teary goodbyes. She's really surprised by how much she's grown to love these 11 other people. She knows that they'll keep in touch, but that doesn't really stop her from missing them already.

Puck stays the night, and once they're sated he wraps his arms across her naked waist and pulls her close, burying his nose in her hair. She knows its not goodbye for them, but its going to be so hard to go from seeing him everyday to only phone calls and visits once a month. As if Puck knows what she's thinking, he tightens his hold on her and plants a few soft kisses across her shoulders.

"I'll be up there in two weeks," he whispers. Her mom knows he's spending the night, but they're both still trying to be respectful.

"I know. I'm just going to miss you so much."

"I'll miss you too babe. But we just have to get through the next year. That's manageable right? A year?"

Quinn nods and turns to face him. "One year, after the past three years, we can do this." Puck laughs and kisses her softly.

"Of course we can. And you know I'll be up to see you every chance I get."

Quinn smiles and kisses him again. "I love you," she whispers against his lips.

"I love you too."

As she drifts off to sleep, she realizes he's right, he usually is about them, it was only a year and they could most definitely do it.


	2. Chapter 2

Quinn smiled as she stepped off of the plane and into Lima's airport, Lima Allen Country Airport. It felt good so good to be home for the first time since she'd left at the end of August to go to Yale. She quietly scans the crowd for her mother while she makes her way over to baggage claim. She'd been disappointed when Puck had told her he couldn't make it to the airport to pick her up, that Burt hadn't given him the time off, but she'd live.

Even though they talked every day, she missed Puck like crazy. They hadn't been able to make the trips to see each other as often as they had anticipated—him working full time at Burt's garage, her finding that her first year of college was more exhausting then she had imagined, so she hadn't seen her boyfriends since right before Halloween. She's kind of worried that things might be a bit weird between them since it has been so long, but she quickly pushes that thought aside.

She's digging through her purse looking for her cell phone to call her mother to find out where she is when she feels a strong pair of arms wrap around her waist from behind.

"Puck!" She exclaims turning around and wrapping her arms around his neck. "You scared the hell out of me!" She continued, a grin stretching across her face.

He laughed and kissed her. "I'm sorry I'm late, Finn's an idiot and forgot he was working half of my shift today," Puck explained lacing their fingers together as they started to make their way out of the tiny airport.

"I don't even care. I'm just happy you're here. I thought you said you couldn't make it."

"I couldn't. But then I worked it out so I could come and surprise you instead." He replied flashing her a cheeky grin.

She shook her head and reached up to kiss him again. "I'm so happy you did. I missed you Noah Puckerman."

"I missed you too Quinn Fabray." He kissed her again. "You know, my mom is at work, your mom is at work..."

"What are you getting at Puckerman?" Quinn asked raising an eyebrow at him.

"We're wasting a lot of time here when we could be making up for lost time."

Quinn laughed and pulled him towards the exit. "Typical."

"You love it."

"I love you. Now take me home and show me exactly how much you missed me."

* * *

><p>She makes her way down the stairs and into Rachel's basement with Puck's arm wrapped securely around her waist. They're about an hour late to their first get-together back, and of course everyone notices their lateness.<p>

"Well look who decided to stop enjoying each other and came and graced us with their presence," Santana smirked with Brittany curled up beside her and a drink in her hand.

Quinn felt herself blush as she hears her boyfriend tell Santana to mind her own fucking business and it just feels so good to be around everyone that Quinn feels the smile on her face grow even bigger as she makes her way around the room saying hello. She's missed the gleeks so much, and she's so happy that they're all home for Christmas Break this year.

They settle into the basement, and it almost feels like they never left. Santana has them laughing as she recounts every horrible detail of her roommate out at _, before revealing that she'd finally had enough and made the girl cry right before leaving to come home. Kurt fills them in on the drama in his and Rachel's department, Tina, Artie, and Blaine update them on everything going on at McKinley, including Mr. Schue trying to rap several times, and Mike tries to teach them new dance steps before admitting defeat when Finn falls flat on his ass.

She has a few friends at school, but nothing like this, they were so comfortable around each other now, get-togethers were just effortless. They were a team, a family, and she wouldn't have any of them any other way. It had taken them a long time to get to where they were, and Quinn is so glad that they did now. She'd truly be lost without any of them in her life.

They're all pretty drunk by the time Finn comes out behind the bar with a pack of cards in his hands. She's not sure how it happens but she suddenly finds herself in the middle of a game of strip poker and she's down to her bra and skirt. Puck had pulled her onto his lap when her top had come off, and the scowl on his face had been growing ever since.

He's down to just his pants, and if she knows him at all, that's all he has left to loose. She leans back into his chest, the warmth radiating from him is comforting, and she needs the comfort since she's never done anything like this before. Apparently a combination of college, alcohol, and him has mellowed her a bit.

"Fuck babe, I need to teach you how to play better," he whispers into her ear as they make their bets for the round.

She shrugs her shoulders and goes for the zipper on her skirt when his hand stops her. "Fuck this, we're out."

She giggles as she slides her top back on over her head and goes looking for the shoes she'd lost ages ago. She decides to just skip the tights and deal with the cold for the five minutes it takes to walk back from Rachel's to her house.

"Puck come on, finish the game," Blaine replied as Puck stood up to slip on his shoes.

"Nope. I'm the only one who gets to see her in her underwear. Me. And if that makes me territorial, fuck it. She's my girl, and I'll be dammed if I let Finnocence or Satan see her...her...goods."

"Newsflash Puckerman, Quinn and I cheered together, and had gym together, I've seen the goods." Santana smirked while Puck growled at her.

Quinn shook her head and just put her hand on Puck's chest. "Babe, let it go. Come on lets go back to my house," she told him looking him in the eyes. "I promise you'll see me in less than my underwear," she added standing on her tiptoes to whisper the last part into his ear.

"You're trying to kill me," he muttered helping her back into her coat.

"Wrap it before you whack it!" Santana shouts out gleefully at their retreating backs. She nudges Puck's side as she shoots off Santana, his hand in the air as they make their way up the stairs.

She shivers the minute they're outside and he wraps his arms securely around her shoulders and pulls her close to him.

"I don't even feel like walking right now," she pouts leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Baby, it's like the next block over."

"Can you carry me?"

"Quinn-"

"Please?" She asked cutting him off and stopping to stand in front of him, pout stretched clear across her face He sighs and runs a hand through his mohawk before giving a slight nod of his head.

"Hop on," he tells her gesturing to his back.

"Yes! You're seriously the best boy friend ever!" He's laughing as he wraps his arms under her legs.

"God I missed you baby."

"I missed you too."

* * *

><p>Her first week back on campus after Christmas break drags by. She misses everyone at home so much—especially Puck. He's coming up on the weekend, and he managed to talk Burt into giving him a long weekend so he can come be with her for Valentine's Day for a long weekend since she has no classes on Fridays this semester.<p>

It's just hard to adjust from being around him constantly, to going back to phone calls, text messages, and skype-ing each other when they can. She can't wait until the next year when he's there with her.

She's stopping by a coffee cart to pick up some coffee on her way from her Thursday afternoon class, when she feels someone wrap their arms around her waist. She jumps before relaxing into his familar embrace.

"You came early!" She exclaimed turning around to kiss him.

"Longest fucking week of my life. I couldn't wait until tomorrow to be here. So I got Finn to cover me and came up today."

"You're wonderful you know that?" She asked tugging on his hand, completely forgetting about the coffee she'd been about to order.

"Where are we going babe?"

"My roommate has class until five. I'd like to be decent before she gets back. Then I'm going to show you this place at night. If I remember correctly last time you were here we didn't really get out much."

He laughs and loops an arm around her shoulders. "I missed you Puck."

"I missed you too babe."

* * *

><p>The rest of the semester flies by, and before she knows it, it's a week before she's due home for the summer. Her finals finished two days ago, and she's almost positive she's passed with flying colors. Her roommate left the night before, but she talked her mom into paying for an extra week in her dorm, so that her and Puck can take the week to look for an apartment for next year and then to help her move back home. Her mom isn't exactly pleased with the living arrangements next year, but she realizes that it's her decision and it would happen with or without her mother's support.<p>

"It's hot as fuck out there!" Puck exclaims coming into the room and throwing himself down onto the two beds she'd pushed together for the week.

"Did you get the paper?" She asked cuddling into his side. He leaned up to pull it out of his back pocket and she snatched it out of his hands.

"What exactly are we looking for anyway?" he asked her wrapping an arm around her as she uncapped a pen.

"An apartment in a decent neighborhood close to school and your police training." She explained beginning to circle ads.

"And why aren't we coming early to look for one before school starts?"

"Because all the good apartments will be taken." Puck nodded his head and flipped on the television, letting her browse the paper. He knew it was better to let her pick where she wanted to look and then they could decide together when they're there.

"Don't get too comfortable there Puckerman, some of these have open houses today and we're going to go look."

"Baby did you not hear me when I said it was hot as fuck out there?" he groaned sitting up to look at her.

She shrugged her shoulders before capping her pen and climbing out of the bed. "We'll take my car then, better air conditioning system."

Puck flopped down onto the bed and tried to pull her back in with him. "But I just got here yesterday!"

"And we had a wonderful time last night, now trust me, it'll be worth it when we have our place for the next three years at least."

"Quinn!"

"And we call Rachel dramatic. Get out of bed _Noah_, or you won't be sleeping in one tonight."

Puck grumbled to himself as he swung his legs out of the bed and got up, walking over to grab the keys from her outstretched hands. She only used his given name when they were in bed together or she meant serious business (read on her way to being very pissed off at him) so he knew she meant it when she threatened him with the floor.

He holds the door open for her and she slips out in front of him, locking the door behind her. She loops their hands together as they make their way down the hall and he can't help but grin about the smile on her face and the way happy energy is practically radiating off of her body. He knows she's still kind of annoyed with him, but that'll pass.

"Is there anything in particular that you're looking for in a place babe?"

"I'd like it to be close to both of our schools, and clean and safe." she replies as they head out into the late afternoon heat. "You?"

"Nope. All that matters is we're here together freaking finally." She leans up to kiss him as he goes to open the car door for her. Its right there that he knows she's not annoyed with him anymore.

* * *

><p>The first thing they do when they get back to Lima after unloading her things is make a trip over to Shelby's to see Beth. Quinn hadn't seen her baby girl since Spring Break, with the exception of Skype and she missed her so much. They had found a small one bedroom apartment that was bright, sunny, and close to where they both needed to be. She'd fallen in love with it as soon as they stepped through the door, she knew they'd had to have it. And now it was theirs for the foreseeable future.<p>

Shelby is just cleaning up from dinner when they walk into the door, and Beth is over in the living room colouring quietly at the living room table. Quinn can't get over how big she's gotten, she can't believe that she'll be three in a few weeks time.

Shelby smiles at them and beckons them inside, and Quinn flashes her a smile before rushing over to Beth's side and scooping her up into her arms.

"Bumble Bee! I missed you!" Quinn exclaimed covering the girl's face with kisses as Beth giggled in her arms.

"Misseds you too Quinnie!" Beth giggled burying her head in Quinn's neck and giggling as Quinn tickled her.

"You didn't miss me?" Puck asked walking over to the two blondes and pouting. Beth wiggled out of Quinn's arms and made her way over to Puck, wrapping her arms around his leg.

"I did!" She exclaimed flashing him the grin that mirrored his own. Quinn sat back on the couch and watched as Puck scooped her mini-me into his arms. She's so grateful and happy that Shelby gave them a second chance to be in Beth's life. Yes she would probably never hear Beth call her mommy, but she was happy for any opportunity to be in her baby girl's life. To have the opportunity for Beth to see how much they loved her.

She smiles as Puck brings the two of them back over to the couch and Beth crawls into her lap and curls up close. Shelby finishes the dishes and comes and sits with them in the living room and she spends the next twenty minutes or so catching Shelby up on everything.

"Are you two up to anything Monday?" Shelby asked them.

Puck shook his head as Quinn answered her. "No, we were just going to be lazy Monday. There's Glee Club Reunion stuff that Rachel and Finn planned for Saturday and Sunday but Monday is wide open why?"

"Do you want to take her for the n-i-g-h-t?" Shelby spelled. Quinn smiled and nodded her head.

"Of course we do. How can we not? What time should we pick her up?"

"I have to be at a conference in Columbus for two, so is ten okay?"

"Ten is perfect, we'll come pick her up. Pack a swimsuit for her, my mom opened the pool."

"Actually, I came over and opened the pool for her," Puck corrected grinning. Quinn rolled her eyes and dropped a kiss on the top of Beth's head.

"Baby girl, we've gotta go. But we're going to come get you in three sleeps okay? So it won't be a long time like last time."

Beth pouted and threw her arms around Quinn's neck. "But you just gotted here!"

"I know Bee, but my mom hasn't seen me yet, and Puck's mom hasn't seen him yet, and i have a ton of stuff to unpack. But we're going to come get you three sleeps from now okay? And that's not too long, since you're already so close to your bedtime right?" Beth nodded her head against Quinn's shoulder.

"I love you Bee," Quinn whispered to her running a hand through her hair and dropping a kiss to her forehead.

"Loves you too," Beth replied squeezing Quinn as tight as she could. "Promise that you're coming in just three sleeps?"

"I super promise baby."

Beth seemed pacified with Quinn's answer and crawled over onto Puck's lap. "Loves you," she told him squeezing him just as tightly as she had Quinn.

"Love you too baby girl. Be good for your momma okay? Q and I will be back before you know it."

"Kay," Beth pouted as Puck placed her back onto the couch. Shelby scooped up Beth into her arms and followed the two of them to the door.

"I'll see you two Monday morning."

"Can't wait," Quinn smiled dropping one last kiss to the top of Beth's head. "Bye Shelby, bye baby! We love you! Be good!"

"Byes! I will!"

"Bye guys," Shelby smiled closing the door behind the young couple. Quinn leaned into Puck as he wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

"Let's get you home Miss. Fabray."

"Stay the night?"

"Of course."

* * *

><p>The summer passes by in a blissful blink of an eye. She knows this will be the last time, for a while at least, that she'll be home for this long of a stretch of time, so she takes the time to savour it. There's tons of beach days, and mini road trips with the gleeks. Not 24 hours pass where she doesn't see her little girl. There's girls nights, and date nights. Water parks and random karaoke nights. Breakfasts where she doesn't remember much from the night before until the pictures make their way up onto Facebook and dinners with all of them at fast food places that would of made her run in fear during the first few years of high school. She makes the most of this summer because she knows next summer all they'll be able to swing is a couple weeks here and there. She doesn't regret moving out of residence and in with Puck, but she realizes that an apartment comes with a lease and they need a way to pay for that lease.<p>

She's sad as Puck closes up the back of his truck, the two ready to make their way back to Connecticut. She gives her mom a fierce goodbye and promises to be home for Thanksgiving while Puck does the same with his mother. They'd gone over to Shelby's the night before to say goodbye to Beth, and it broke her heart a little bit more each time she had to say goodbye.

"Dive safe you two," her mom tells them as they make their way over to Puck's truck (Santana, her, Brittany and Rachel had taken a mini road trip last week to drop off her car and then taken Santana's car back).

"Call us when you get there," Puck's mom, Sarah, adds.

"Don't stop to sex each other up halfway there!" Pucks thirteen year old sister, Hannah, throws in grinning devilishly.

"Hannah!" Sarah scolds while Puck helps her climb up into the truck.

"We'll miss you!" Quinn calls out of her rolled down window as Puck starts up the truck. Puck starts backing out of Quinn's driveway as they both wave goodbye to their families. Quinn has always hated goodbyes, they've always seemed so sad to her, but this time it feels less like an end and more of a beginning.

* * *

><p>It takes a while for them to completely settle in together, there's a few minor fights between them, but eventually the settle into the swing of things. Their lives are a bit hectic, Quinn is at school five days a week plus she'd found a job at a small cafe close to Yale, and Puck was taking classes at the police academy and working part time in a garage that a friend of Burt's owned. They were busy, and sometimes it felt like the only time she got to see her boyfriend was when they were crawling into bed together, or on Sundays, the day they both had off to be together.<p>

Overall, she knows they're both so happy that they don't have to do the long distance thing anymore. It was hard enough the first year on the both of them, and she's so glad that they're emotionally and physically stable enough to live together. It was getting lonely enough out in Connecticut without all their friends, she didn't think she could of bared another year without Puck close by as well.

Time passes quickly for the two of them, and before either realize it, Quinn is finishing up her second to last year at Yale and Puck has a full time job at their local police station. Their lives are busy and hectic, but she's happier than she ever remembered being.

She's cleaning the kitchen when he comes home from work in the early evening. She'd just finished her last exam for the semester and she's really happy to see him walk in the door of their apartment still in his uniform.

He slides up and wraps his arms around her as she places the last dish into the drying rack. "Hey baby," he says placing soft kisses along her neck.

"Hey, how was work?" She asked turning around and wrapping her arms around his neck to kiss him properly.

"Boring. Lots of paper work today. How was your last exam?"

"I think it went really well," she grinned up at him. He goes to lean on the counter beside her while she finishes up the dishes. She's just placing the last dish in the rack when she notices Puck staring at her.

"What?" She asked placing her hands on her hip and kinking an eyebrow up at him.

"Marry me," he blurts out shocking them both. Before she even has a chance to say anything he's babbling away a mile a minute and she has to bite on her lip to keep the smile threatning to grace her face at bay. "Fuck I did not mean to just blurt it out like that. I had a plan. Fuck! I have a ring, I had a plan and I have a ring and just fuck-"

"Puck?" She says cutting him off mid rant. He stops talking and looks at her and she can't help but let the smile break out across her face.

"What?"

"Of course I'll marry you."

"Really? Even though I just blurted it out like an idiot."

"Babe, I just love you, and I'd love to be your wife. It doesn't matter to me how you proposed, the fact that you did means everything."

A grin breaks out onto Puck's face and he pulls her into his arms. "I just love you too," he grins bending down to kiss her. She goes to protest when he breaks away from her, but when she feels a ring being slipped onto her finger she can't help but smile and look down at it.

"Where did this come from?"

"Baby were you not listening to my freak out?" Puck laughed. "I told you I had a ring."

"No I know, I just didn't think you meant on your person right at that moment."

"I've been carrying it around with me for two weeks now. Didn't want to chance you finding it."

She smiled and looked down at the elegant silver ring. It was a princess cut diamond with two smaller ones on either side. It was simple, beautiful, and elegant. It was perfect.

"I love you," she whispered leaning up to kiss him again.

"I love you too Q."

* * *

><p>Their mothers absolutely freak out in the best way possible when they find out about the engagement. They wait until they're back home in Lima before telling anyone, and its at a summer BBQ in her mom's back yard that they break the news.<p>

Everyone is there, they have a standing agreement that they all make it back home for at east two weeks every summer, and her mom and Puck's mom have gotten pretty close over the years. Shelby is there with a five year old Beth and they're immediately swarmed with hugs and congratulations.

Rachel and Santana are furious that she "with-held such valuable information from them" (Rachel), and she's told that she's lucky that "she didn't kick their asses from here to next Tuesday for keeping this little secret for over two weeks" (Santana).

They decide to have the wedding next July, so she'll be done with school, and everyone can be home for the wedding. She's so deliriously happy, and its such a stark contrast to how she used to feel during the beginning of senior year, she honestly cannot believe how far she's come sometimes. She knows a lot of it is because of Puck and him standing by her no matter what. She honestly does not know what she'd do without him in her life.

* * *

><p>"Mom I don't care that Kurt called and said he also thinks I should wear white. This is my wedding, and the reason why women are supposed to wear white on their wedding is because they're virgins. Let's face it mom, I haven't been a virgin for a very long time and there will be proof of that when my little clone walks up the aisle as flower girl." Quinn sighs and runs her hand through her hair as she flops down on the couch next to Puck. He automatically wraps an arm around her and shoots her a sympathetic look before going back to channel surfing for something to watch. "Mom! I already have a dress picked out, it's on order, it's ivory. I'm not changing my mind on this. No. I love you too, we'll see you in a couple weeks. Bye."<p>

Quinn hung up the phone and tossed it beside her on the couch letting out a groan. "I swear to God if one of our mothers or Kurt hounds me to wear white again I am going to loose it." Puck laughs and pulls her closer to him, dropping a kiss onto her temple.

"Fuck 'em babe. Its our wedding, I don't care if you walk up that aisle naked, as long as you walk up that aisle."

"Oh you'd like it if I walked up that aisle naked." Quinn grinned snatching the remote from his hand.

"It sure as hell would save me a lot of time later on," he replied flashing her a wicked grin. She shook her head and smacked his chest.

"I don't think I can handle eight more months of our mothers."

"They're just excited."

"I know they are, and I get that, but I'm sorry I hate carnations, I always have but your mother will not stop pushing for them to be our flowers when I've told her eight million times we've decided on white lilies. My mother will not stop pushing ham for dinner no matter how many times I explain to her that your relatives are Jewish and ham is not kosher. And my lovely sister, who I barely talk to, keeps calling wondering why she's not even in the wedding party. I mean seriously? She basically disowned me along with my father when I got pregnant and now she wants to be a bridesmaid? I don't even think so."

"Q, it's our day, not theirs, don't let them try to pressure you into things."

"I know Puck, its just I hate repeating myself over and over again. I'm just tired of it. I just want to be married to you, that's all that matters is that I'm your wife and you're my husband." Puck smiled at her and leaned down to kiss her.

"Maybe we should just elope," he chuckled snatching the remote back and putting on the football game.

"Noah Puckerman you just might be a genious."

"Quinn what are you talking about?"

"We should run away and elope this weekend. I just want to be your wife, I don't need the rest of the stuff."

"I don't need it either, but our mothers do babe."

"So we don't tell them. We go get married for us, and have a 'wedding' in July for them."

"They'll figure it out, we're going home for Christmas and Hanukah."

"They won't if we don't tell them."

"Babe-"

"I just want to be your wife Noah, the sooner the better." Puck leaned over and kissed her fiercely.

"Tomorrow is my day off, I'll go and see about getting a marriage licence for this weekend."

"I love you. So much."

"I love you too."

* * *

><p>They manage to make it through Christmas and New Year's without letting it slip that they'd already tied the knot. Her mother came down for a week when she'd graduated from Yale with a BA in Psychology, and she'd pouted that they had to hide their wedding bands and everything still turned out fine.<p>

They arrive home at the beginning of July and are immediately swept up into a flurry of last minute details for the wedding. Everyone is home, so its busy and loud, and there's a few nights where they both just wish they could curl up onto one of their childhood beds, watch a movie, and maybe make out a little bit like they were still in high school.

Her mother walks her down the aisle, her face beaming with pride, even if she never did cave on wearing an ivory dress. Puck smiles at her as she makes her way down and she feels her grin get even bigger across her face.

He dips her when the Justice of Peace pronounces them married (again) and gives her a kiss that has all of their friends catcalling, and their mothers rolling their eyes.

Later on, as a slow song drifts out across the dance floor and into the summer night, she's wrapped in his arms as they sway gently across the dance floor.

"We did it," he leans down to murmur into her ear, since her mother was within ear shot, dancing with her date.

She lifted her face up to smile at him before placing a soft kiss on his lips. She hears Santana calling out telling them to get a room and Tina shouting out her agreement. Puck flips them off behind her back and she rolls her eyes before kissing him again. "We did it." she agreed resting her head onto his chest.

"Did I tell you how beautiful you look in that dress?" he asked. Quinn blushed, he always told her she looked good in his own way, but he very rarely said the word beautiful.

"You clean up very nicely yourself Puckerman."

"Why thank you Mrs. Puckerman." Even though they'd technically been married for the past eight months, hearing him call her Mrs. Puckerman, in her wedding dress, made her feel like a giddy school girl.

"It's getting pretty late," she grins, playing with his tie a bit.

"It is."

"What do you say we go make use of that hotel room we booked?"

"Fuck baby, I thought you'd never ask."


	3. Chapter 3

So this is the last little oneshot in this 'verse. I hope you guys like it, and remember reviews are loved!

* * *

><p>"Babe?" Quinn hears Puck call out as he enters their apartment.<p>

"I'll be right out!" She calls back, quickly washing her hands in the sink. She finds him in the kitchen rummaging through their fridge and she smiles as she leans against the counter and watches him. He's still in his police uniform and she can see his hat and belt tossed hapazardly on the table in their entry way.

"Hey baby," he grinned shutting the door and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Well hello there Puckerman," she replied leaning up to kiss him softly. He kisses her again before heading into their bedroom to change. "How was work?" She calls out as she hears him opening their closet door.

"Fucking long. Busted like three kids for shoplifting. The paperwork for it was fucking ridiculous." He calls back. He goes on a bit more about his day and she's still leaning against the counter when he comes back out of their bedroom.

"How was your day babe?"

"Oh you know, the usual. I was at the high school this morning, then my office this afternoon. Typical Wednesday afternoon of a Teenage Psychologist." She tells him grinning. He goes back into the fridge for a bottle of beer and holds one out to her in offering but she shakes her head no and smiles.

"You're smiling more than usual."

"Oh so your wife can't smile Puckerman?"

"No, you totally can that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying something is up. Fuck is your crazy aunt Fiona coming to stay again? I know you love her, but babe, she almost set this entire building on fire by mistake."

Quinn laughs softly and shakes her head. "No she's not."

"Then what are you so happy about."

"I'm pregnant."

Puck's mouth drops open and she has to hold back the laugh that threatens to escape her mouth at the look on his face.

"Wha—Quinn! That's amazing!" He exclaims sweeping her up into his arms and spinning her around the tiny kitchen. "When did you find out?" He asked kissing her and setting her back onto the ground.

"Just before you got home. Remember how I was sick last week? Well I just clued into the fact that I was late, so I stopped by the pharmacy to get a pregnancy test on my way home and we're pregnant."

"Babe, this is amazing." Puck grinned kissing her again.

* * *

><p>They decide to wait to tell all of their friends and family. This pregnancy is already so different from when she was pregnant with Beth, and they would both like to control how their loved ones find out about their new addition. Looking back, she regrets the way she handled everything back when she was pregnant with Beth, and she'd do it differently in a heartbeat if she could, but what's important now, is them and their baby and being able to do this right.<p>

So they decide to wait until she's successfully out of her first trimester but that's all shot to hell when she's shopping one day with Santana and Rachel. It's a typical early April afternoon in New York City, and the three of them walk along the sidewalk as the early spring sun shines down on them. Santana is in for a week from San Francisco for a meeting with the editor for some magazine that is looking for her to freelance every once and a while for them. Quinn and Puck had moved to New York after she graduated from Yale and got a job at one of the high schools as their school psychologist, which meant that she saw Rachel all the time, but it was nice for the three of them together.

"So where's this sushi restaurant you were raving about before Quinn?" Santana asked as they debated about where to stop for lunch.

"Oh it's just over like fifteen blocks. We can be there in five minutes if we hop on the subway a block up." Rachel replied heading off towards the subway with Santana following close behind.

"No sushi, I'm not in the mood," Quinn tried, wrinkling her nose for effect. "What about that deli that you like Rach because it has those vegan options?"

"Finn and I grabbed a quick dinner from there last night. And come on Quinn, Santana needs to experience this place."

Quinn shook her head. "I'm really not in the mood for it Rachel. Can we go over to Chinatown to grab Chinese instead?" She asked they continued down the sidewalk.

Santana rolled her eyes. "You're acting like you're pregnant or something."

Quinn let out a nervous laugh and Rachel and Santana stopped in their tracks in the middle of the sidewalk to face her.

"Oh."

"My."

"God."

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" Santana demanded at the same time that Rachel was rambling about them not telling herself and Finn.

"We were waiting. Nobody was supposed to know for another six weeks!" Quinn exclaimed crossing her arms across her chest. "Puck is going to kill me."

"He's not going to kill you, quit over-reacting, you're acting like Rachel." Santana joked sending a wink Rachel's way.

"I'll have you know-"

"And if he does make a big deal out of it, send him to me. I'm pretty sure Auntie Snix can come in and make an appearance to kick Puckerman's ass for being an ass to you."

Quinn rolled her eyes before turning around and starting to walk again. "Come on San, Rachel and I know of a fantastic little pizza place that we don't tell the boys about. You should see the amount of bacon they'll put on a pizza when you ask for it."

"It's disgusting how much bacon there is. Bacon aside you'll love it too. Come on."

* * *

><p>She gets through her first trimester easily aside from morning sickness. They conference call both of their mothers to call them, and both of them absolutely start freaking out, and Quinn's pretty sure that they don't realize that the two of them are still on the phone. They tell Shelby and Beth when Shelby takes Beth up to visit them in New York for a week, and the little girl is beside herself with excitement. Except she's not that little anymore and that makes them both kind of sad.<p>

She's pretty sure that Puck is more excited than she is when she shows him the tiny baby bump that's starting to show up. It makes her smile about how happy he is about all of this, she knows that this is something that they've both wanted for a long time, but they weren't at a place in their lives where it would be smart to have another baby. Now he's settled with his job on the NYPD, and she's been out of school and working as a high school psychologist for the past three years. They own their place in a nice neighbourhood, and it's the right time for this to happen. She wouldn't change having Beth for anything, but she really wishes that it could have happened when they were a little bit older, and ready for her.

They decide to find out what they're having (Puck has never really been all that good with surprises), and her twenty week ultrasound comes before either of them know it. She really cannot believe that they're at the halfway point of this pregnancy, and she hopes that their little one continues to go easy on her like it did during her first trimester.

She's too excited to sleep much the night before their appointment, she can't wait to start actually buying things for the baby instead of just gender neutral yellows, greens, and whites. She can't wait to know whether she's going to be buying pink or blue, and to start planning out the nursery.

Puck meets her outside of the obstetrician's in his police uniform, having left work early to make the appointment on time. He slips his hand into hers and pulls her to him to kiss her softly on the lips.

"Hi," she whispers grinning as they break apart.

"Hi," he whispers back tucking a stray piece of blonde hair behind her ears. "You excited baby?" He asked her laughing slightly seeing her bounce a bit on her feet. She nodded her head and started to pull him inside.

"I can't wait to find out if it's a girl or a boy. I can't wait to start properly planning for our baby." She tells him signing in with the receptionist.

"I know babe, me either." He tells her running a hand across the slight swell of her stomach. "What do you want the baby to be?"

"A boy would be nice. He could play football like you did, and you could teach him how to play guitar."

"Boys are trouble baby. Trust me, I know. Girl's are easier. When she's a teenager just casually mention to every boy that she sees that I have guns. And I'm a cop so I know how to shoot too. That or lock her away until she's forty."

Quinn scowled and smacked him on his arm. "You're so charming."

"I know. It's why ya married me Q."

Quinn rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest in slight annoyance. Puck shook his head and leaned over to kiss her. "Love you."

"You're just saying that because I'm slightly annoyed with you right now."

"I'm saying it because its true."

"Love you too."

"Mrs. Puckerman, the nurse called out leading them to the back of the office. She leaves them alone in the examining room, telling them that the doctor will be with them shortly.

She's nervous and excited all rolled into one so she's kind of jittery. Puck slips his hand into her's to calm her down slightly and she gives him a soft smile just as the doctor walks in. They go through her usual check up, weighing her to make sure she's gaining weight like she should and making sure her health is still good.

When the doctor finally turns around to the ultrasound machine and squirts the gel onto her stomach she's so excited that she can hardly breathe anymore. The comforting heartbeat of the baby whooshes through the room, along with her much slower steadier one. The baby's heartbeat is always enough to bring tears to her eyes, and when the baby actually shows up on the screen, the tears fall down her face. It's so much bigger than the last time they saw it, and she leans forward to lightly trace it's spine. The doctor is smiling and telling them that everything looks fine and is going the way that they should. He shows them the different parts of the baby before turning around and asking if they'd like to find out the sex. She nods eagerly and Puck lets out a choked yes, before the doctor turns back to the screen and draws their attention back to where he's pointing.

"Congratulations you two, that right there means you're having a baby girl."

Quinn feels a grin break out across her face as tears start to fall down her face. Puck is stunned next to her with a grin on his face. She lets out a choked laugh and he's up and kissing he in seconds.

"A girl," she muses kissing him again.

"A girl," he grins back wiping the happy tears off of her face. The doctor excuses himself to go get them print outs and the dvd, and Puck carefully wipes the gel off of her stomach.

Quinn stands up, pulling her shirt down and kisses him again. "A baby girl." She's a little shocked, but in the best way possible.

"You realize I'm screwed now right?" Puck asks laughing and helping her back into her coat.

"Why babe?"

"I already can't say no to you. How the hell am I going to ever say no to anything ever again with the two of you looking at me with that face you get that she'll get just to mess with me."

Quinn laughed and stroked his cheek. "Baby you were screwed years ago."

"You're right. You've had me whipped pretty much since day one." Quinn smirked and looped her arms around his neck. "Babe, you look way too smug right now."

"I'm the only one who's ever had you wrapped around her finger. Well besides Beth but she doesn't count. Who would of thought that it would be this former HBIC that would tame the all mighty Puckasaurus."

"Only you would of ever been able to. You've had my attention since freshman year babe."

Quinn smiled and kissed him softly before turning to leave the examining room. He gently grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Thank you." He whispered pressing another kiss to her lips.

"For what?"

"Everything. And thank you for her. I love you babe."

"I love you too Noah."

* * *

><p>She's barely six months pregnant when she wakes up feeling like something was going to go wrong that day. She shakes it off and goes about getting ready for work, eating breakfast with Puck, who's just coming in from work, and heading off to the high school for the morning.<p>

Her day is busy and she stops off at this little Thai place they love to pick up dinner before Puck has to leave for work again. They have a quiet dinner and she settles down with the dvr for the night while Puck kisses her quickly and heads off to work.

When the phone rights just after two am she's thrown off because she fell asleep on the couch and Puck didn't call at his usual time before she went to sleep.

"Hello?" she mumbles into the phone without even looking at the caller id first. She hears Puck's partner on the other side and she barely hears him say the words, drug bust, shooting, hospital, before she flies off the couch and searches around frantically for a sweater, shoes, and her keys. She tells his partner that she'll be right there and tosses the phone onto the couch, she's not even sure she hung it up. She makes a mad dash out the door and bolts into the cab that stops in front of her.

She rushes into the emergency room and she sees Puck's partner sitting there and she sees the blood on his uniform and it feels like her stomach just drops. The baby is moving around restlessly and she drops a hand to her stomach out of instinct to try and calm her as she rushes over to her husband's partner.

"Quinn-" he sees her rushing over and leading her back over to the seats.

"Where is he? Paul where is he?" She's borderline hysterical and she can't seem to calm herself down.

"He's still in surgery. Quinn he's going to be fine, calm down okay?" She shakes her head and stands up to start pacing.

"I cannot calm down. He's in surgery. He got shot! I knew something bad was going to happen. I could feel it. Oh God."

"Quinn, I need you to look at me okay. Its a flesh wound. He got shot in the arm. With some rehab he'll be fine. I promise. You got to calm down okay? It's not good for you. Is there anyone else I can call to be here with you right now."

She sighs and runs a hand through her hair before continuing to pace. "Rachel. Call Rachel." She tells him thrusting he phone out to him. "And why are you covered in blood if he's going to be fine? What if he's lost too much blood? And they're out of his blood type. Oh God."

"Quinn, there was a lot of blood because of the wound. Flesh wounds bleed a lot. I promise he'll be fine. We're police we know how to handle this if something like this does happen. And the paramedics were there in two seconds flat. He's going to be fine."

She exhales and drops down into the chair next to Paul. She's still on the verge of a breakdown, but she can't physically hold herself up anymore.

Half an hour later and Finn and Rachel are seated on either side of her and Rachel has her arms wrapped tightly around her shoulders and Finn has her hand clasped into his. Rachel's stroking her hair and tears are falling quietly down her face. She's in shock and she's a wreck and she's so relieved that Finn and Rachel came and took over everything. Finn took care of calling their mothers to let them know, and she knows he'll take care of letting everyone else know in the morning.

A doctor comes into the waiting room and she feels herself snap to attention when Puckerman is called out into the waiting room. She stands up and walks over to the doctor, Rachel and Finn following closely behind her.

"Are you here for Noah Puckerman?" the doctor asked when she was standing in front of him.

"Yes, I'm his wife." Quinn stated trying to keep her voice under control and keep front crying. She'd be a mess normally, but she was pregnant and hormonal on top of everything so her emotions were in overdrive.

"He's out of surgery. Everything went well and with physical therapy his arm will make a full recovery. I'll have a nurse bring you up to him okay?"

"Yes, thank you," Quinn replied shaking the doctor's hand quickly.

"Do you want us to stay Quinn?" Rachel asked. Quinn shook her head.

"No you guys have been great. Go home, get some rest I'll call you later okay?"

"Call us if you need anything okay Quinn? And I'll let your moms know what's going on okay?" Finn asked pulling her into a hug.

"Yes, thank you both so much. I don't know what I would of done without you."

"Anytime Quinn. And seriously, call if you need anything, I don't care about the time." Rachel told her wrapping her into a tight hug.

"I will Rach, I promise."

"Mrs. Puckerman?" a nurse asked coming over to her as Finn and Rachel turned to leave.

"Yes?"

"Right this way, I'll take you to your husband."

The nurse led her down the hall and left her at the door to Puck's room. She could see him there and she immediately rushed inside.

"Hey babe," he croaked a lazy grin breaking across his face.

She can't help it as she starts crying and takes his hand next to his bed. She kisses him fiercely and he gently removes his hand from hers to wipe the tears off of her face. "Baby, it's okay, I'm going to be okay. Come here." He tells her pulling her down to join him in the tiny hospital bed.

"I was so scared I was going to loose you." she tells him still crying and gripping the front of his hospital gown tightly in her hand.

"I'm fine babe. It's okay." he tells her rubbing her back softly.

"I know. But I was so scared. And all I could think about was our little girl growing up without her daddy and I just, you're not allowed to die first okay? I don't think I could handle it."

"I promise I'll let you die first Q. And our baby doesn't have to worry about that because her dad is going to be fine. It's okay baby, it's really okay."

He lets her cry softly for a bit, continuing to rub her back. He presses a kiss to the top of her head and she looks up at him and runs a hand gently across his cheek. "I love you baby. I'm sorry I gave you such a scare tonight."

"I love you too."

"It's going to be okay, I'm here. I'll be fine."

"I know." She tells him going to get up out of the bed.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"I figured you should probably get some rest, and I'll go see if the nurses have a cot or something for me."

"No stay here. I know you hate sleeping without me. I don't like sleeping without you too much either."

"Puck you need your rest, and the bed is small, and I'm about as big as a house now."

"I don't care that the bed is small, I want my wife next to me. And you're not big as a house, you're pregnant and you're still so hot babe."

"You're just saying that because I could easily kill you right now and blame it on hormones."

"I'm saying that because its true. You look amazing. Now get back in this bed. I missed my wife."

Quinn smiles and climbs back into the small bed, laying her head on his chest and tangling their legs together.

"Don't ever do something like this to me again. Especially if I'm pregnant."

She feels his chest rumble as he lets out a small laugh. "I promise Quinn. I love you."

"I love you too. Now sleep, you need rest."

* * *

><p>Puck is released a few days later and Quinn flies around their apartment trying to make sure he's comfortable and has everything he needs. She's about to go back into the kitchen when he reaches up from his chair with his good arm and wraps it around her waist, pulling her down to sit on his lap.<p>

"Baby, relax. I'm fine," he tells her grinning.

Quinn raises an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure you don't need anything else?"

"Yes. I'm fine. Sit with me, relax. You need to take it easy too, you're busy growing a baby."

Quinn rolled her eyes and laughed. "The baby wants her mama to make sure her daddy has everything he needs."

"He does. Relax babe, it's not good for you to stress too much," he tells her pulling her closer and dropping a kiss to her temple. She shifts around a bit on his lap to get comfortable and he goes back to the baseball game he's watching on tv.

"So I've been thinking," she starts focusing his attention back to her.

"About what Q?"

"I think we should move."

"Maybe something a bit bigger would be good with the baby coming and everything."

"No, I don't mean in Manhattan."

"Baby no offence, but I never really took you for a Queens or Brooklyn kind of girl."

"Puck I think we should move back home."

"Quinn we can't move back home. Our lives and jobs is here."

"But you could transfer down to Lima, and since Mr. Schue got promoted to principal last year, I'm pretty sure he could get me a job at the high school. If not you know I eventually want to open my own practice, this could be my chance to do it."

"Quinn-"

"You're not even going to consider it are you?"

"Baby our lives are here. We worked so hard to get out of there, why do you want to go back?"

"It's safer there than here."

"Quinn, this could of happened anywhere. I don't want to move back home just because I got shot."

"There is no 'just because' in this Puck. You got shot. You got shot and I was terrified that I was going to loose you. I cannot go through that again."

"Baby, I'll just ask them to move me to a different section of the city or something. And I'll be doing desk work until further notice anyway."

"You're not listening to me and you keep trying to downplay what happened to you. When you're ready to listen to me and discuss this properly, I'll be waiting."

* * *

><p>A very tense week passes by for the two of them. Puck's pretty sure that at least part of their fight was due to hormones but he values his life too much to open that can of worms so he keeps his mouth shut. She's still furious and only speaking to him when she has to, or he says something first. It's been awkward and tense, but she's not giving in.<p>

She's stretched out on the couch one day looking at baby names on her laptop when he walks in and sits in front of her on the coffee table.

"Baby, let's not fight anymore."

"Are you ready to seriously talk about moving back home now?" she asks him arching an eyebrow.

"Quinn, why do you want to move home so bad? You love New York."

"Because I want our babies to have a yard to play outside in, and a school yard on actual grass and not a rooftop. I want you to be safe, and it's a hell of a lot safer in Lima than it is here. I can't loose you, our babies can't loose you. I want our babies to know Will and Emma. Santana, Britt, and Sam. Finn and Rachel spend basically the whole summer there. I want our moms to be involved in our babies lives. I want them to know them, be close to them." she tells him starting to tear up. "I want our babies to know their older sister. Beth is in Lima and if we were there we'd get to see her all the time and our babies would know her, and be close to her."

"Quinn-"

"I want our babies to have as much family as we can give them Puck, and if we're living here, there's only us and Rachel and Finn. Neither of us really had that support group until Glee club, and I want our kids to have that always. I want them to have the family that neither of us really had growing up. Please just think about this."

"Okay. Find a realtor we'll start looking for a house."

* * *

><p>She's putting away a few stray dishes from lunch when he comes inside and slips his arms around her waist.<p>

"Puck you scared me," she laughs relaxing into his embrace.

"Sorry babe," he tells her laughing slightly and placing a few soft kisses along her neck. "Where's the birthday princess?"

"I just put Sophia down for a quick nap. Wouldn't want the birthday princess getting all cranky when everyone is here for her party."

"I can't believe it's been a year since she's been born."

"I know. She's growing way too quickly. I just want her to stay little forever."

Puck laughed and Quinn turned around and leaned against the counter to face her husband. He settled his hands on her hips. "Baby, me too."

"Next thing we know she'll be sixteen and going out on dates."

"Fuck that. She's not dating. I know what boys that age think about. We have walking proof of what boys that age think about. She's not dating."

"Puck-"

"I'm serious Quinn. She's not dating."

"Okay," she told him grinning and in the tone that he knows means she's just humouring him. "Speaking of walking reminders, where is Beth? I thought she wanted to help you set up the backyard."

"She is. I just came in to find the other balloons you have and I got distracted."

"You got distracted? By what?"

"Kissing you," he told her leaning down and softly kissing her. She smiles into their kiss and wraps her arms around his neck. She loves moments like these, where its just the two of them. She loves her babies, but it's always really nice to just have a minute with her husband.

"Puck I thought you were just coming in to grab more—oh. Gross." Beth announced walking in from the backyard.

Quinn laughed and leaned her forehead against Puck's before walking over to Beth and pulling her against her side.

"I'm sorry baby. He just got distracted." Quinn told her laughing at the expression on the nine year old's face.

"Please, don't be gross. Where's Soph?"

"Napping. Come on princess, let's go finish this backyard so Quinn doesn't have a heart attack about it not being perfect. Baby where's the rest of those balloons."

"I won't have a heart attack if it's not perfect. Bee do you want to come with me to the bakery to pick up the cake instead? Sam is on his way over and he can help in the backyard. Here take the baby monitor so you can hear if Soph wakes up while I'm gone." Quinn said handing it off to her husband. "And the balloons are over there on the counter. Are you coming Bethie?"

"Hell yes." Quinn turned and fixed her husband with a stare.

"After this party, you, me, and Shelby will be having a discussion about what is and isn't appropriate to be saying in front of our nine year old."

"Easy there momma bear."

"I'm serious Puckerman. Just you wait."

Beth giggled as Quinn placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and lead her out of the kitchen. She can't wait to try and eavesdrop on this conversation later.

A few hours later she steps back out into the back yard with a fresh bowl of chips in her hands. Puck is over by their bar-be-cue manning the grill while Finn and Sam stand close by the three of them chatting. Beth is off goofing around with Brittany and her mom, Puck's mom, Santana, Shelby, and Rachel are having a conversation together at their patio table. She feels a little body collide with her legs.

"Mama! Up!" Sophia demanded tugging slightly on her dress. She sets the chips onto the table and scoops her second mini me into her arms. She finds it amusing that both of her daughters look so much like her, and she wishes that they had a little boy who looked just like Puck. The more time passes the more she thinks that they really should get to work on making another baby.

"How's my birthday princess?" Quinn asked covering the toddler's face in kisses, making the small girl squeal with delight. She settles Sophia on her hip and Sophia immediately lays her head on Quinn's shoulder. She's such a mama's girl.

She walks over to where Britt and Beth are playing and Sophia immediately starts struggling to be put down to go play with her sister. She presses a soft kiss to the toddler's temple before setting her down and kissing the top of Beth's head too.

She feels Brittany skip off to go talk with the boys and she stands there watching her girls play together. Beth is so patient with her sister and it makes Quinn happy to realize that the two will be close growing up. Puck's arms wrap around her waist and she leans into him, letting out a happy sigh when he presses a kiss to her temple.

"Who's manning the grill?" She asked turning her head to look at him.

"Sam. Last time I trusted Finn with it, he almost set our whole house on fire."

Quinn chuckles at the memory and settles even more into his embrace as they watch their babies play. It's taken her years to get here, but she's never been happier. Her life turned out totally different than she had expected when she was younger, but she wouldn't want it any other way. This life was perfect for her and she was really truly happy with it.

* * *

><p><em><strong>-Fin-<strong>_


End file.
